Remove Hurdles to Cancer Care

A new report by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) found that over 70% of commercially-insured patients encountered out-of-pocket expenses for follow-up breast cancer diagnostic tests in 2023.

This week, Congress failed to advance a bipartisan year-end health care package that would have made a big difference in the fight against cancer. The bill included language based on the Nancy Gardner Sewell Medicare Multi-Cancer Early Detection (MCED) Screening Coverage Act (House)/ Medicare MCED Screening Coverage Act (Senate) and the Screening for Communities to Receive Early and Equitable Needed Services (SCREENS) for Cancer Act, which are key priorities for cancer patients and their families.

Public health groups are applauding the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for upholding the non-discrimination provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the case of Neese v. Becerra. The court vacated a lower court ruling based on the plaintiffs’ lack of standing in the case, which challenged protections in the ACA for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) patients receiving health care services.

Groups representing millions of health care professionals and patients with serious and chronic health conditions filed an amicus curiae brief in the case of Tennessee et al. v. Becerra in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.